Tagalog is one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines whose population is now over 90 million. It is the native tongue of the people in the Tagalog region in Central Luzon. It was the basis of the national language from 1937 to 1972 (renamed Pilipino in 1959) and some Filipino language experts argue that Tagalog is, actually, the base for Filipino—the current national language and national lingua franca. If that is the case, Tagalog/Filipino would have the greatest number of speakers among over a hundred languages spoken in the archipelago, both as a first and as a second language.

The Tagalog Language At Cornell

The Department of Asian Studies offers Tagalog language instructions at various levels –beginning, intermediate, and advanced. The beginning courses involve thorough grounding in basic speaking and listening skills with an introduction to reading and writing. The intermediate and advanced levels develop all four language skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Directed studies may also be arranged on a specialized basis to address particular student needs.